0 Days Without Crisps

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It's Monday and time to continue a trend of promised new and positive habits only for them to fall apart midweek. Often that involves maintaining a regular (and high) attendance at the gym - there is really no positive benefit to going only once or twice in the week, well that's what I've found anyway. Another positive habit that keeps getting restarted is a better diet which brings me to the title of this post - the countdown ( or up) has started -- today is 0 days without crisps.

I seem to keep bringing work up and I promise it won't make an mention for a while after but I've always found work to sap at my motivation. usually around Sunday afternoon or evening I find motivation to try doing things a little different, try harder and generally be more productive. I don't know whether this is down to me reflecting on the weekend and realising I could have done more, a build up of motivation due to the prolonged time not at work or a mix of the two but promises are made, oaths are sworn that come Monday, come tomorrow I will be a better person.

It's scary to think that on weekdays I am out of the house for near enough 12 hours means I'm not aligned on improving myself - it sounds like an excuse and it probably is but it's the only explanation I have to why it took me 3 months to join the local gym and over a year to start driving lessons (man that looks terrible when put down in black and White). Following some root canal work I had to undergo did mean I had to change my diet to cut out most of the unecessary sugar and I succeeded to a certain extent.
Just like championing the gym visits, there are lapses of routine and discipline. In terms of diet, there are 3 which I hope to eradicate completely - those being chocolate, cheese and crisps. my problem is I can go fairly long times without needing them in the house but every now and again I cave in and stick them onto the tesco order and proceed to binge on them without restraint. Combine this with poor gym attendance and I think to myself "hmm, think I've put on some weight" or "my belly looks bigger than I remember" the self-esteem takes a nose dive and motivation follows it down too and there is no more will to change for the better arg!

Coming back to the present and after consuming a high number of crisps from the multipack I purchased over the weekend I decided to finish them off and announce "no more crisps!" It's difficult to explain why I do relapse in instances like this. Crisps are good to have around as they are super quick, zero preparation and can cure a shot of hunger but just like consuming a huge bar of chocolate I feel terrible after. Also how ridiculous is it that I am moaning by my inability to resist crisps!?

I believe the secret is some kind of sponsor, I see it as the only reason why other habits like preparing my lunch for work, hell even getting out of bed for work, driving lessons etc is that there is someone else there to make me accountable, someone that will be disappointed, pissed off if I don't do it.
So this is day 1 without crisps and the first day of a habit that I intend to keep - please keep me honest!

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I'm leaving on a Jetplane...

Continuing my posts detailing my trip to the US further and looking back on my Trans-Atlantic flights, a really big deal for me. I've only been on a plane once before (twice if you count coming back :D).

Unfortunately I didn't take any pix, the authorities may have thought me a terrorist after pointing my camera at airplanes and security personnel was my paranoia. Anyways, to brighten up the site enjoy another *random* snap taken on my travels.

Note: It's a pretty obvious sign that I play video games too much that I thought of the Dead Air finale from Left 4 Dead when getting on the plane...



It's a little weird that I was nervous for the flight. Strange, as I've been on a plane before, and apart from takeoff and landing, the majority of the trip feels like being in a bubble removed from the World. There is an appeal to the window seat, but there isn't much to see except blue and impressively pure light once you're above the clouds. The best part, in my opinion, has to be the takeoff, all the noise and violence as the plane handles the contours of the runway, and then replaced with a simple (not to mention constant) hum as I watch cars, buildings and streets get smaller until the plane passes through the clouds and then attention reverts to the cabin, in-flight entertainment and food.

Both flights had a monitor in the back of the seat in front and the flight out to Chicago, in particular had a "flight status" channel if you will. It would transition through a number of screens, parting such information as expected arrival time, current altitude and speed (those numbers are pretty mind-blowing, they are so large it's difficult to get a reference) and a map charting our progress using a red line much like the Indiana Jones films.

In terms of in-flight entertainment, I watched Yes Man on the way out (look out for an upcoming On the Box post) and Milk on the way back. It was a shame that during my outward flight the guy in front of me had his seat reclined to the max, which meant that I too had to recline, although I was unsure how, so during the movie, I sunk into my seat as the monitors were little LCD affairs which offer crap visibility when viewed from an angle. I also caught up with some podcasts and also chilled out to music - I did not read the large Bill Bryson hardback I packed (as I couldn't find any other books in my house to read).

Due to the length of the flight, we got not 1, but 2 meals. Unfortunately, gluten-free seems to translate to pineapple it seems. It's only a shame as I'm not a fan of pineapple but I got given some for 3 of the 4 meals - a little messed up. Other than that it was fine and edible enough.
The stewards seemed to have a problem understanding me, which considering how multilingual they surely must need to be, is either troubling for them, or a kick in my confidence sac. On the flight out, the one steward couldn't understand me saying "can I get an extra cup?" as they gave you a portion of orange juice in a tub of all things. The other time on the way back, the steward was asking if I had finished with my meal:

Steward: Are you done?
Me: No, I'm not done
(steward goes to take my tray)
Me: Oh no, sorry, I'm not done
Steward: Sorry, are you done or are you not done?
Me: I'm not done, I'm not done
Steward: Oh ok, you're done (goes for tray again)
Me: No I'm not done!

Plus, TV + Film has lied to me, all the attractive stewardesses must have been kept up in first class, which you must walk past to get to economy - it's nice for everyone to see what for most people (almost certainly, myself included) will be forever unattainable.

I had a huge wait for my flight back whilst at Chicago, and as it turned out I botched the online check-in. My fortunes did turn round, and the lady at the BA check-in kiosk obviously took a shine to me and upgraded me to premium economy. Not much of a score, but it meant slightly larger seats, believe there were two less in each row.
I also got to sit next to this french (guessing from her accent the few times she spoke) girl - perhaps a little too young for me but very cute all the same. I was very impressed at her (and others around me) ability to fall to sleep so readily, I unfortunately could not reach the same state. I'm a pretty good sleeper, once I'm gone, it's quite difficult to bother me, but actually getting to sleep is harder. I get a bout of insomnia, I knew that I needed sleep and hell, I was tired enough, but the hum, the footsteps of stewards and my numb ass prevented me from falling asleep. It was a classic case where I was aware of every hair on my foot, sensitive to any change in air flow and temperature, and absolutely no position was comfortable. And all that jet lag destroyed me for the following 2 days as I caught up with sleep.
It was at that time while I looked around at all those napping that I felt a little sorry for myself, I got wishing for a close companion of which we can both rest against - and it's pretty forward to try it with a stranger. To feel so completely comfortable with another human being to happily doze on someone else's shoulder, even more so to be content, I would love me some of that. Speaking of which, travelling on a plane and it is impossible (for guys at least), about joining the mile high club.

On the flight to Chicago which was in the middle of the day, there was a queue for the toilet, so the next person may be surprised when there's more than one person in there. Plus those toilets of which I speak of are at the front of economy, so all those observant would notice two people go in at the same time. There were toilets at the very back of the plane, I think those would be the way to go.
Once that initial milestone is overcome, that's not that much room inside, plus you have to watch out for the Call Steward button. I also can't imagine that the door, or any of the walls are particularly sound proof, although you probably wouldn't care. After the deed is done, there's the returning to the seats, so that needs co-ordination. I imagine the first person in should be the first person to go back to the seat - what is known as a queue or FIFO system (First in First Out) - but hey, I'm sure you get better with practice.

I may be over thinking this, but it's only the important subjects we address here.

Anyways, trans-Atlantic flights are pretty awesome, my ass went numb about half way through and I didn't get feeling back until my ears stopped popping. Arriving back at Heathrow, a man grumbled when we had to go on a small bus ride to get back to the terminal - for Christ's sake, you have just crossed the Atlantic, do you have any comprehension of the distance travelled? Do you have any appreciation for the technology and design that has made such a feat possible, and commonplace? Planes FTW!

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Part of your X a day...

Following on from positive rant about my progress made at the gym this is a quick look at my diet and my ongoing quest to reach a body shape/weight that I'm comfortable with.

Everyone is familiar with the recommended 5-a-day servings of fruit and veg. Now, it doesn't take a pro mathematician to tell you that one way to achieve this would be to have a portion at every meal, breakfast, dinner and tea, and pick up the other two portions via a mid-morning and a mid-afternoon/supper break.
Compound that with the recommendation that along with that we all should also aim for 3 servings of wholegrain wheat/fibre or at least that's what the animated cereal boxes before the weather tell me.
Now if you take those two recommendations, the only method of achieving this is to have either fruit and fibre or fruit-themed weetabix for every single meal of the day. Factor in all the other foodstuffs we should be eating, I read somewhere that you should try and eat fish once (it may have been twice) a week on top of that.

I am of course being a little silly but there is a quickly knocked up, rough round the edges solution to the problem. I am complaining as it seems pretty hardcore to actually succeed in hitting the target number of portions but I feel I am getting part way there, plus the other changes I've made to my diet which seemed to have had a positive effect (that is implied from the lack of negative effect)

When trying to start any positive habit, I've learnt some methods to hack out the result I want. The crucial lesson is to make small steps. Like with my gym attendance, at first I set myself a target of regular attendance, rather than actual targets in terms of distance run, weight bench-pressed etc and the same can be said with improving your diet. Now, I am the first to admit that my diet is less than perfect, but to increase my fruit intake I said to myself, hey buy a bunch of bananas and see how I get along. I evolved that into swapping a chocolate treat after my tea with a banana instead. I've now reached the point where if I choose to skip the post-tea banana or the house is out of bananas, I actually miss it. Now, that's taken a fair few weeks to build up the habit but it's now pretty much hard-coded into my daily routine.

As I alluded to above, I've also cut out pretty much all chocolate from my diet, the only chocolate I have now are the treats my Nan gives me whenever I go back home now. I still find myself every now and then thinking, "mmm, I could really go for a Mars bar," but not having them in the house makes the temptation only very slight.

I probably mentioned in passing the "fun" I had when I got some hardcore toothache towards the end of last year, I had to go in for root canal treatment. The cause of the problem was surprise, surprise too much sugar in my diet, particularly concentrate fruit juice. As a result of this, I've reduced the sugar in my diet which as there has been no noticeable negative effect, must be judged as positive. So pretty much every drink I have is sugar-free; I only drink Coke Zero now (if I have it in) which actually isn't too bad, it maintains the syrupy goodness I love, it's not for everybody, but it's something I think is pretty awesome. I've also dropped from 2 sugars to 1 sugar in my coffee at work. And speaking of Coffee, I've swapped over to Decaff which has not made me any more tired - it's all in your head that coffee keeps you awake.

There's quite a few more things I've done to achieve a diet that is a bit more healthy. I used to be an advocate for full-fat (blue) milk. They could have got me to go round people's houses and try to sell it, I was that much of a fan. I've managed to move from blue to green, and then from green to red, the semi-skimmed option which is the lowest in fat. I've also taken up drinking Cranberry juice (low in sugar variety of course) which is supposed to be very good for you what with all the antioxidants contained within (plus it apparently has more vitamin C in than concentrate Orange juice wtf!). I used to always snack around 10-11pm, so I'm slowly moving my teatime back in the evening to prevent munchies occurring before bed - I cannot sleep on an empty-ish stomach.

One part of my diet which still needs much improving is the fact that I still eat a fair amount of cheese. I intend to reach a point where, thanks to me finally learning how to knock out a cheese sauce, I will only consume cheese as part of the aforementioned cheese sauce to go with pasta. My Nan still likes to make cheese and onion quiche (and I still like to eat it :D) so that will eventually be the only other time.

I think I've been pretty successful in all these changes due to the fact that I've never set myself a target - "I will cut this food out of my diet by next Friday", and that way I've been taking those small steps towards my goal. It's not important how long it takes to get there, only that I get there eventually. Of course it may be better for some to set dates as part of targets, it's different for everyone. To quote scrubs

"A day spent wishing is a day wasted. If you want to be different, then be different" - Janitor

That being taken from the episode where Elliot has a makeover into the hot rocker chick with the messed-up hairdo.

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